• Large gas line explosion in Minneapolis, MN
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sauce: [url]http://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2011/03/17/large-gas-explosion-in-south-mpls/[/url] [quote=CBS Local]MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO/AP) – A natural gas line exploded into massive flames in South Minneapolis Thursday morning at the intersection of Nicollet Avenue and 60th Street. There were no reported injuries. Explosion Details Just before 8:30 a.m., Minneapolis Dispatch began receiving calls about a possible gas main explosion. The flames were visible from a significant distance away, including along nearby Interstate 35W. Crews from the Minneapolis Fire Department, Minneapolis Police and other local law enforcement agencies responded to the scene. The flames were intense enough to melt off the letters of the Cub Foods sign nearby and scorch a number of cars in the grocery store’s parking lot. Witness Jude Croyle said, “I was driving about 30 mph, it was about 30 degrees outside, I had the windows up and a wool jacket on. I still felt the heat on my skin.” The highway was closed as fire crews battled the flames and CenterPoint Energy sent their emergency response team to the scene. “It wasn’t a fire that built, so it was within a moment of the blast it was enormous in size,” said Erin Hughes. “So we ran down there to see if we could help at all but the heat was pretty intense, you couldn’t get very close and as you got closer it was just unbelievable how huge the fire was.” Fire officials evacuated the immediate area and later expanded the evacuation area until crews were able to extinguish the fire around 10:30 a.m. After the fire was out, evacuation area was reduced to 59th Street on the north, on the south by 60th Street on the south, Blaisdell Avenue on the west, and 3rd Avenue/Clinton Avenue on the east. According to city officials, the perimeter is simply a precaution and fire officials have not detected any residual natural gas in the air. The explosion left a large hole in the road in front of a Cub Foods supermarket near the interchange of Interstate 35W and Highway 62. That Cub Foods is now reopen to the public. Assistant Fire Chief Cherie Penn said gas levels in the air had reached 80 parts per million but are back down to zero. Penn said fighting a gas line fire is different than fighting a house fire. “As long as that’s venting and burning that’s the best thing that can happen here. Sometimes if we look like we’re not doing anything in these instances, the best thing we can do is let it burn,” she said. Heat from the fire damaged some powerlines, street lights, electrical poles and vehicles in the immediate area. Damages have yet to be determined. “I felt the heat in my car. It was intense. I never felt heat like that before,” said Kim Sax, who drove by the fire. [/quote] Videos and pics in source. Imagine calling your insurance "Uh hello, Geico? Yeah my car just melted."
Thing was like "BOOSH!"
Kinda awkward I was listening to Disco Inferno while reading this.
As a side note, the gas line was installed in 1994 and is 20in in diameter, or about 51cm. Lots of gas in just one pipe.
[QUOTE=ZakkShock;28671167]Thing was like "BOOSH!"[/QUOTE] Avatar fits. This story looks like it exploded into headlines.
inb4 Greenpeace
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